The Contract
by Lord Perth
Summary: Harry is roped into an interesting situation by Dumbledore
1. Chapter 1

**The Contract**

**Chapter 1: The Deal.**

"This is an interesting proposal Madam," Albus Dumbledore commented from behind his desk at Hogwarts.

"I cannot tell you anymore than I already have. I can only hope that you will agree to my terms. My grand-niece speaks very highly of him and I think that we can offer him a great deal in return.

"You realize that you are asking me to turn over one of the most important people in the Wizarding world into your custody and you won't even give me a concrete reason?"

"The reason is not meant for you to know. It is for him and him only."

"I'm afraid that I won't be able to comply without knowing your reasoning. You must understand that he is very important to a lot of people. I cannot willingly send him into your custody for an undetermined amount of time. He is also set to undergo more extensive training this year since he is finished with Hogwarts.

"In the unlikely event that you haven't noticed; we are in the middle of a war; a war in which he plays a key part."

"I am certainly aware of his part in this war. As _you _should know; magical creatures have their own methods of knowing what the future holds without relying on prophecies from Seers who cannot even remember what they Saw.

"Part of the reason we wish to keep Mr. Potter with us is because, as you well know, we have a different way of using magic than humans do. We are more in tune with magic since magic, in a sense, created us. One of our goals while Mr. Potter is with us, is to train him to use his magic as we do. Humans, in general, will never know the full extent of our magic, he will be the exception. It's almost laughable that this Dark Lord looks down on half-bloods and magical creatures.

"My grand-niece probably has a better grasp on magical theory than even you can ever hope to achieve. She simply doesn't have the raw magical energy to compete with you. With his raw magical energy and our training, there is no way your Dark Lord will stand a chance against him.

"We can, and will, help Mr. Potter become the man he needs to be in order to end this war. There are some things that are beyond even your understanding Albus."

Albus Dumbledore sat in thought for a few minutes. He knew what she said to be true, but that didn't mean he liked the fact that he would be handing over custody of Harry to someone who may not be able to keep him safe.

"If I agree to your terms I will have to add one of my own."

"Continue," The unnamed women waved her hand noncommittally.

"I wish to send a guard from my Order to stay with him and make sure he is safe."

"Do you have somebody in mind? You should know not to send a male guard with him if you wish the guard to do anything productive."

"I have a young ex-auror that would be perfect for this job. She and young Mr. Potter have formed a rather close friendship of late. She was related to his recently departed godfather and it would appear that that link has formed the closeness between them."

"I agree to your terms."

"And I agree to yours, Ms. Delacour."

Section Break

"AUNTIE! I can't believe you actually did that," Fleur yelled.

"Why is it such a hard thing to believe," Madame Delacour, replied smoothly. "We need a male in our village, one that is single, and it was also Seen by your mother that we would be responsible for training him. This shouldn't come as a shock to you."

Fleur groaned in response. "Have you even talked to Harry yet? Does he know what you and his Headmaster are planning for him?"

"You know as well I do that I would never tell Albus the main reason for sending him here. You also know that since I only left an hour ago that there was no way I could have gone and talked to young Mr. Potter."

"I can't believe this is happening. What am I going to do?"

"You are not required to take part in anything. It is only required of the full blooded Veela and even then they have to be willing participants. This truly has nothing to do with you."

"How can tell me it has nothing to do with me? I am his friend. I may not be a close friend but I would like to believe that we were friends by the end of the tournament. Now you are going to force him to move into our community. It's not exactly like I can avoid him. There are only three hundred Veela living here."

"You will have to accept it soon, my flower. He will be receiving the notice from his Headmaster later this evening and if all goes well then he will be moving here within the week. I have nothing else to say on this matter, and I have a community to run."

"Yes, Aunt Cassy," Fleur muttered dejectedly.

Section Break

"Hey Nym," Harry said as he saw Tonks climbing into his room that night. It was something she had taken to doing whenever she was on guard duty the last couple of summers.

"Wotcher Harry. You're lucky I like you or you would have been on the receiving end of a hex for that name."

"What," He shouted in mock horror. "I'm offended. I thought you would like a nickname. Oh well……I guess I should add that to my list of things you don't like.

"One, no sugar in her tea. Two, hates her whole first name. Three, hates nicknames bases on her first name. Four, hates anything with spelled with the letter 'H'."

"Come on, I don't hate all of that. Though the things starting with the letter 'H' was spot on," She finished cheekily.

"Oh don't act like that comment actually hurt." Tonks swatted his arm as he made a mock pouting look. "You've become too much of a smart ass these last two months to let a comment like that bother you...Besides, you're horrible at acting."

"Not true," He said indignantly. "I think my acting has improved a great deal," Harry finished somewhat arrogantly.

"You can't even act the part of being arrogant, Harry," Tonks deadpanned.

"Did you just come here to insult me all night?"

"Of, course not. I would never do such a horrible thing."

Harry snorted.

"Seriously though, Harry, I didn't come here to trade insults, no matter how fun they are."

Harry couldn't stop the smile from forming when he saw her cycle her hair through the colors of the rainbow while talking to him.

"What's going on, Tonks?"

"Dumbledore pulled me aside after an emergency Order meeting earlier. He called the meeting because of you."

"I haven't done anything noteworthy yet."

"I know. All you did was sit around a mope the first week back until we started having our talks.

"Professor Dumbledore isn't going to allow you to go back to Grimmauld Place to see your friends before Ginny goes back to school."

Harry looked at curiously; as if he didn't believe a word she was saying.

"I know by that look on your face you don't believe me, but I am dead serious about this. Here, read this note." She told him as she handed him a folded piece of parchment."

_Harry,_

_I know that we haven't seen eye to eye on many things in the past few months, years even. That is going to make my decision now even more difficult._

_Earlier this morning I was approached by Madame Cassandra Delacour. She is Fleur's Great-Aunt. She had a most unusual request and I was reluctant to agree to it. She was not forthcoming with the details of what she wanted other than to offer training to you. _

_You are scheduled to leave Privet Drive and make the journey into France, where you will be staying in a veela community on the north coast. The time that you stay there will be determined by how quickly you finish your training. _

_I want you to understand the reason I agreed to this. Actually there are two reasons. The first, and probably most important, reason is that magical creatures have a different understanding of magic than most humans do. Madame Delacour is offering to take you into her village and have you trained with the best in every field they have to offer. _

_This kind of training cannot be matched. As I said, they understand magic differently than humans and they are willing to teach you how to manipulate magic as they do. I certainly hope that this is the key to unlocking the power you will need to destroy Voldemort._

_The second reason that I agreed to the deal was that, this specific Veela community was thought to have been completely destroyed during Voldemort's first rise. As such, the ones that escaped from death have since set up a new community that Voldemort is unaware of and will, therefore, not be looking for it._

_The last thing I wish to point out is that I know this seems unfair to you. You will be sent away and will not be able to spend time with your friends. That being said, I requested one change to the agreement made between myself and Cassandra. I requested that I be allowed to send somebody with you. She agreed to the terms and I have chosen a person that I feel you will be happy to spend some more time with._

_Ms. Tonks, as I am sure she has told you, is no longer an auror due to Cornelius' purging the ministry of any suspected Order members. I have asked her, and she has agreed to accompany you to the veela community and stay with you as long as you like. I will also be working out a way for you to be able to send messages to your friends in an undetectable manner._

_I regret that this comes on such short notice, and without asking you first, but I truly believe this to be in your best interest. _

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Harry crumpled the letter and threw it in the rubbish bin and sighed.

"I know, Harry," Tonks said, rubbing his back. I don't know if he truly thinks things through or not before he makes his decisions. It seems that he doesn't when you are concerned."

"I'm not as angry as I probably should be about this. It's been a long time since I have been able to see Fleur and I think I could really learn something new through this. I'm only angry because he never asks before he takes control of my life. He legally has no more control over me.

"I'm no longer his student and I became of age last year."

"I know Harry. The fact that you are taking his advice at all shows how much you have matured the last few years. You almost don't seem like the same person anymore.

"I know that he's done a lot to you to make you on guard around him, but you still recognize that, regardless of his mistakes, he is not the enemy."

"I guess I'm supposed to take that as a compliment?" He asked with a grin.

"Of course," she smiled widely and bounced up and down a bit.

Her nervousness overcame her jovial mood as she realized that Harry may not want her to go with him.

"Do you want me to go with you on this trip? I mean, I told Dumbledore I would but I don't have to. I was just th-"

"TONKS!" he shouted to get her attention. She immediately closed her mouth and looked at him sheepishly.

"Of course I want you to go. I haven't even heard a word from my other friends all summer. I broke up with Cho when she said she was being transferred to a job in Italy, and none of them even bothered to think I might have been hurt by everything. You're probably the best friend that I have now. Are you sure you can give up being around the rest of your friends to spend a year with me."

She teared up a bit at hearing him say this. "You're the only friend I've got, Harry. Every guy that ever approaches me wants me to change into their perfect woman, and every woman I meet thinks I will steal their guys. I haven't had any real friends since muggle elementary school. My parents have been out of the country traveling for a few years. I'm not even sure if they know that a war is going on. Not to mention the fact that I lost my job. I don't have any reasons to stay around here anymore."

He still looked a little unsure but along with his maturity came reasoning. It wasn't his decision to make. It was Tonks' decision since it was her life.

"I'd be happy if you would go with me to France, Tonks."

"Good. You won't be getting rid of me that easily. School starts a week from Monday and we are leaving the Wednesday prior. That gives us three more days to get packed and ready to go." She had just finished talking when they were interrupted by a rapping sound at the recently closed window.

Section Break

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were sitting in the living room at Grimmauld Place. They had just been told be Dumbledore that they would not be seeing Harry for at least a year.

"Why won't they let us write to him," Hermione yelled; tired of being frustrated.

"Don't know Hermione." Ron answered.

"I can't believe neither one of you has written to him yet this summer. He's probably really mad at both of you now," Ginny added before saying more quietly, "I know that I would be. He just ended a two year relationship with Cho and none of you, his best friends have even written to him."

"What do you want me to do Ginny? The Headmaster forbade it. You know he wouldn't do such a thing if it wasn't necessary."

"Did you ever ask him if you were still forbidden from writing him, Hermione? Or did you just assume that the rules from the last two years were still in place?"

"I-," She kept opening and closing her mouth but could never get passed "I."

"That's what I thought. I can't do this anymore. I'm going to ask him," Ginny seethed as she stomped out of the room and into the kitchen.

The order meeting had let out some time ago but they were lucky that Dumbledore was still there. They watched as he finished having a whispered conversation with Tonks and then they saw Tonks disapparate.

"Sir, I have a question about Harry."

"What would you like to know, Ms. Weasley?"

"We weren't allowed to write to Harry two summers ago and last year we were told the same." Seeing him nod that it was true, she continued.

"We automatically assumed that the same rule was in place this year. But now he is going to be gone all year and we haven't been able to say anything to him since he got off the train."

"None of you have written anything to him this summer?" He asked with more of his age becoming visible.

"No, we haven't."

"Oh my."

"What's wrong Professor?"

"I just sent a letter to Mr. Potter via Ms. Tonks. She has been hand delivering his mail to him all summer. I thought he would appreciate being able to communicate with his friends a bit more. Ms. Tonks has been spending much of her free time, as well as her guard duty time, talking to Harry and becoming his friend."

"You mean we could have been writing to him all this time?"

"I'm afraid so, Ms. Granger."

"We need to go write to him, now," She finished with conviction. She headed out of the room and up the stairs with Ron and Ginny following.

"Do you think he'll forgive us," Ginny asked "I wanted to get to know him better, now that he wasn't dating Cho. Now I won't get to see him at all for a year. I figured he would spend most of his time at Hogwarts doing training and I could be there for him."

"You still have feelings for him, don't you?" Hermione asked

"I think that answer is obvious. Michael was just something to pass the time away while Harry came to his senses. Dean, well, Dean was a mistake. Now Harry's going to be gone for a year and I won't get to see him at all."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm pretty sure that Dumbledore is sending him somewhere to get a lot of training. What are the odds that he could find someone to fall in love with while he's training?

"He's not even over Cho yet, as far as we know and now he's going to be somewhere with no one he knows."

"I hope you're right Hermione."

Section Break

"Ready to go Harry?"

"As ready as I can be Nym."

"I really wish you wouldn't call me that," She said, though secretly she was kind of glad. No one had ever given her a nickname before and she kind of liked it.

"Since you can apparate, legally, can you take these letters to my friends before we leave?"

"Sure thing, lover boy."

"I'll stop calling you Nym if you stop calling me lover boy." He grumbled.

"And I'll stop calling you lover boy when you stop calling me Nym."

"I guess we both better get used to the names then huh."

She just winked at him and disapparated.

He was a little frustrated with her from a few nights ago but he had mostly moved past it. At first he didn't even want to read his friend's letters but she had been adamant that he at least read them. She told him he didn't have to respond to them if he didn't want to but he owed them enough to at least read the letters.

Grudgingly he agreed. His friends had been there for him a lot in the past and he owed them that much. So he took out the letters and read all three of them.

He was still a little angry with his friends even though they had a semi-valid reason for not writing most of the summer. And it was only through Tonks' persuasion that he wrote them back.

His musings were cut short as Tonks reappeared in his bedroom with her trunk and a short piece of rope.

"Grab hold, lover boy," Tonks smirked.

Shaking his head at the antics of his, now best friend; he grabbed the rope and they disappeared in a swirl of color.

A/N: Few story line changes and time line changes to match where I want the story to go.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to Treck and Nedlin for checking these stories for me.

**Chapter 2: Discussing the Details**

The portkey activated and both Harry and Tonks were surrounded by swirling colors as the familiar tug of portkey travel pulled them away from Privet Drive, for the last time.

Harry landed, and slightly tripped before righting himself, in some fancy entrance hall. He stood up and proceeded to help Tonks to her feet, as she couldn't land straight even if she were walking, before looking around. Harry still hated to travel by portkeys. He pretty much relied on apparition now that he was of age - though he had yet to get his license and tried not to do it around many others. Even though it felt weird to do it, it was the only method of wizard travel that didn't make him want to lose his lunch in the process.

As they looked around, Harry gaped and Tonks let out a whistle as she too took a look at their surroundings. It was probably the most elegant entrance hall either one of them had ever set foot in. Everything was made from elegantly shined and polished marble and hardwood(Cherry).

They were shaken from their musings as they heard footsteps approaching their location. Battle tactics and training ingrained into their skulls, both of them pulled out their wands; looking for cover despite the fact that they were guests in this person's house.

Section Break

Fleur Delacour was now twenty years old and very mature as far as veela were concerned. She had spent the last three years of her life, her years following the tri-wizard tournament and her subsequent graduation from Beaubaxtons, staying with her great-aunt to understand more of her heritage.

Her mother had left the veela community at a young age to seek out a husband in the wizarding world and, as rules dictated, she was unable to return to the veela village. The offspring of those not to return are not punished by choices they did not make, though. This is the reason that Fleur had sought out her aunt in hopes of learning more about Veela in general.

In the last three years, everything she had been taught at Beauxbatons was skewed beyond recognition. Her ancestors had a much more insightful way of looking at magical theory. The main problem is that, though the theory is sound, to make the most of their knowledge you had to have a great deal of magical strength. There was no need for wands or incantations when learning with them. Everything was about intent.

It was now drawing close to the time when Harry was supposed to arrive and she couldn't believe how nervous she was. Deep down she expected Harry to blame her for being taken away from his friends and forced to live in their community. And though she didn't know him very well, she didn't want him to hate her for this. She herself had only known of her aunt's plans for a little more than a week and she had spent most of that time trying to talk her out of them.

Harry was set to arrive in five minutes and she had elected to go with her aunt to greet him and his friend. She figured she owed him that much, to be there at least as a show of support and so that he would know somebody else while he was there. If he accepted her aunt's proposal then he would need people he trusted to be able to help him cope with the stress this situation is sure to add to his already hectic life.

Harry, she knew, had just turned 18 a few weeks prior and was starting to enter his magical maturity. It was a very trying time in itself, but with the training he was supposed to do and his other, obligations, it was sure to drive him to the point of insanity.

She was also curious about the friend/guard that Harry was bringing with him. Her aunt had told her very little about her except that she used to be an auror and had become good friends with Harry over the last two years, but even more so in the last few months. Was there some romantic interest involved there? If so, how would he, not to mention she, deal with her aunt's ideas.

She sighed and realized that Harry should be there by now and she still needed to meet her aunt before going to find them. She met her aunt in her study and followed along, just behind her, to the entrance hall.

Once she was there she could barely stifle her laughter at Harry's friend. The auror was apparently a bit clumsy. While Harry appeared ready to defend himself against whoever came through the door, his friend was lying face down, cursing like a sailor at a small end table that she had apparently tripped over. The emerald green hair did little to take away from the scene.

She watched, with a smile, as Harry studied both her and her aunt before relaxing his pose and sheathing his wand. He gave them both a small smile and nod before walking over towards Tonks and offering her a hand.

Section Break

Upon realizing that they weren't in any immediate danger, Harry sheathed his wand, gave his welcome party a small smile and nod before getting to his feet and going to pick Tonks up from the floor. She gratefully accepted his hand up and picked up the end table once she was situated. She was glad that she didn't damage either the table nor the floor with the accident

"How are you doing Harry?"

Harry stood up and studied the young woman in front of him for a second before it dawned on him. Dumbledore had mentioned in his letter that Fleur was staying in the village since her aunt lived there.

"Not to bad, Fleur. Yourself," he asked?

She shrugged noncommittally and turned to introduce her aunt. "'Arry, this is my aunt, Cassandra Delacour," Fleur said formally.

"It is very nice to meet you, Ms. Delacour. My name is Harry Potter and this is my good friend, Nymphadora Tonks. Though as you can see, she hates her name and prefers to simply be referred to as Tonks," Harry exclaimed, while rubbing the back of his neck were Tonks had slapped him.

"It is nice to meet you as well, Tonks, Harry, please call me Cassy. It will make things easier on us all. There are currently three Ms. Delacour's living in this community and they all show up frequently, so it will help to avoid confusion.

"Now, I'm sure that both of you have some questions as to why you are here. Specifically you, Mr. Potter," She said in an amused voice.

Harry couldn't exactly understand why, but Fleur was beet red and even Cassy's face was tinted a slight shade of pink. Tonks looked just as perplexed as him.

"I think it would be better to continue this discussion elsewhere," Cassy stated, regaining her composer before she turned and led the three young people out of the room.

Cassy's study was every bit as elegant as the entrance hall was. All of the furniture was made of polished hardwood and soft fabrics. If Harry had to guess, he would think she was some sort of royalty.

"Please take a seat," She motioned to three chairs that appeared in front of her desk. Once all three were seated she continued. "Fleur, I know you are aware as to the reasons why your friend and Ms. Tonks are now with us so please, humor an old lady as I explain it to them."

Harry had to hide a snort at the 'old lady' comment. If anything Cassy looked no older than thirty. Yet Harry knew she must be at least twice that to be Fleur's great aunt.

"During Voldemort's first rise to power he had specifically sought the allegiance of many magical creatures. He wanted all of their help to overthrow the ministry and Albus. Though he never knew that we understood that he would turn on us as soon as he could. He understood that magical creatures had a way of understanding magic that few humans would ever understand.

"What he didn't understand is that magical creatures also have their own way of telling what the future may hold. A seer amongst us was able to sense something related to you and Voldemort. That seer was Maria Delacour. My niece, Fleur's mother. Somehow Voldemort learned of the contents of this prophecy and was not pleased with the results.

"In short, the prophecy stated that you, the marked one, would travel abroad and be taught a different sort of magic. It was also foretold that it was our, clan, if you will, that is supposed to train you."

Harry chose this point to interrupt. "So, I'm here because of another prophecy was made to dictate my life?" He was starting to get frustrated with the total lack of control he had over the affairs in his own life.

"In short, yes. But there is another reason as well."

Harry resigned himself to hearing her out and listened to the rest of her speech.

"Our clan has a problem. Many people don't realize that there are in fact male Veela in addition to the females. If there were not, then there couldn't possibly be any pureblooded Veela left in the world, unless we were a mixed breed.

"Every clan is made up of two communities. One community houses mainly the males and one community houses the majority of the females. The reason they are kept separate is simple. Once a Veela is married they can choose to live in either community.

"Voldemort, after learning of our role in his downfall sought out our clan and destroyed the male community. He had never learned of the way clans are split and therefore did not seek us out. As a precaution we have completely relocated our community to where we are today and have a new governing body to maintain the way of life we have become accustomed to."

Here she paused to make sure they all understood so far. Upon receiving conformation that they were following the story she continued. "I am the leader of this clan/community and act in a similar way as the Ministers of Magic does over their own countries.

"Our clan is now in trouble. We have not had a male community in quite sometime. Thus we have several women that are now at the age of choosing husbands, or mates, and have nowhere to look to find them. The only option they have as of now is to leave the community and find a husband in the wizarding world or muggle world. Either way, they will not be able to live in the community ever again.

"Now we're getting closer to the main reason you are here. We already knew that you would come to us one day to train in our brand of magic. Therefore you will be entitled to live in the Veela community as a sort of surrogate child of the Veela."

Here her face became almost as red as Fleur's had earlier and Fleur herself would not meet either Tonks or Harry's eyes.

"To be blunt, Mr. Potter, we are asking you, in return for your training, to help repopulate our Veela community. This has only happened once in the history of our species. We are asking you to take ten wives, or mates, from amongst the 32 eligible Veela between the ages of 21 and 29."

Harry Potter; The-Boy-Who-Lived, Defeater of the Dark Lord Voldemort at age 1, Tri-Wizard Tournament Champion, Defeater of Death Eaters……fainted……….and so did Tonks.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to Treck and Nedlin for checking these stories for me.

**Chapter 3: WTF?**

_Harry Potter; The-Boy-Who-Lived, Defeater of the Dark Lord Voldemort at age 1, Tri-Wizard Tournament Champion, Defeater of Death Eaters……fainted………and so did Tonks._

Section Break

It was about ten minutes later that he started to regain consciousness followed shortly thereafter by a dazed and confused Tonks.

After surveying his surroundings, he quickly realized that it wasn't a dream and he had just been propositioned by a very attractive Veela to become a man whore for their veela community.

'Did that make her and Dumbledore pimps, for setting this up?' He quickly shook the thought off and moved back to the matters at hand. 'What the hell was he supposed to do about this? Was this just another manipulation by the Headmaster or something more? Why can't these damn Seers just leave me the hell alone? I didn't ask for any of this. I haven't even really dated anyone before besides Cho. How am I supposed to marry 10 women?'

He just sat there with his head in his hands, mumbling to himself. Tonks was really confused herself. She was almost the epitome of the 'ditzy blonde', with the caveat that she had green hair, straight down to the blank look on her face. She was the one that finally broke the silence that had settled over Cassy's office.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you people?" Tonks shouted.

Harry looked up at the sound of Tonks raising her voice. It was something that she rarely did and he was a bit shocked that she was yelling at the lady that they had just met. Granted, this was an unusual situation, but still…..

"Tonks, calm down. Shouting won't get us anywhere," Harry stated calmly.

"How can you sit there and be so calm about this Harry? They want you to be their man-whore."

Fleur interjected, being appalled at Tonks statement regardless of how close to the truth it actually was. "We do not want Harry to be this, what did you call it, man-whore. We have a problem and Mr. Potter has shown in the past to be very helpful to others. My aunt was simply asking for his assistance in this."

"In the end, Mr. Potter, we will be training you whether you accept our offer or not. As I said before, the training you are to receive was prophesized to happen, so it must. I am simply asking that you consider our plea for help. To be able to find wizards that are what veela would consider 'worthy' is a very difficult task. They must be headstrong, intelligent, loyal," she continued on, ignoring the snort that accompanied that trait. "Brave and many other traits that Veela consider important.

"As I said, this is very rare. You were discussed in our last governmental meeting and we discussed your history, even having Fleur give us her account of your personality. You were deemed 'worthy' and now I have made the official proposal to you.

"I do not need an answer right now. In fact I would prefer you to think this over a bit. I will have Fleur show you to your quarters. We will start your training at the beginning of next week so you and your friend will have some time to get adjusted to being here. If you have any questions while you're here; you can ask Fleur or myself. We will be sure to be available to you.

"I hate to cut this meeting so short after throwing such a heavy package at you but I have business that I must attend to and my time is running short. So if you all will excuse me…" She stood up and shook Tonks and Harry's hand, signaling the end of the meeting.

Section Break

"Follow me Harry, Ms. Tonks. You're staying here in this house along with me and my cousins." Fleur said as she led the way back towards the entrance hall so they could get to the staircase.

"Fleur?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"How long have you known about this?" He asked gesturing his hand in an all encompassing motion.

"I knew nothing until they asked me to talk about you at the meeting. Even then they would not tell me anything until a few days ago, at which point my aunt explained everything and I tried to get her to stop."

"So, you don't think I should accept then?"

"I didn't say that. I think it definitely has its good and bad sides though."

Tonks couldn't contain her jealousy anymore. All this talk about Harry going off after 10 other women made her angry. She had been getting closer to Harry all this time, for almost three years, and he hasn't even asked her opinion. She didn't know if Harry liked her as more than a friend, like she did him, but to ask for Fleur's opinion before her own was the last straw she could take for that day.

"Of course you think he should consider it. Then you get your chance at being with him don't you? Trying to get in good with him so you can be picked as one of the 10, huh?" Tonks jibed.

"I, I…." Fleur stuttered.

"That wasn't a nice thing to say Tonks," Harry cut in.

Tonks looked a little ashamed at her outburst. After all Fleur was his friend too, she just expected him to show more interest in her than Fleur. She tried to regain control of her emotions and was able to stop her tears from falling, but she couldn't bring herself to look either one in the eye after that.

Nothing else was said as they made their way up to the second floor bedrooms, with Fleur in the lead. Once they reached an elegantly carved oak door, Fleur pushed it open to reveal something similar to the Gryffindor common room that both Tonks and Harry had visited so frequently. The colors were different, of course, and it only had two doors other than the entrance, but it had the same comforting feel and furniture design.

Just like downstairs, everything was marble or wood. Even the floors were hardwood instead of carpet and it was polished to a shine. The common room had a couch, love seat, a set of blue velvet armchairs, all centered around a 4x6 inn table. There was a fireplace against the wall towards the back of the room. On either side of the fireplace was another polished oak door that led to the bedrooms.

"The bedroom on the right is yours, Ms. Tonks. And Harry, yours is on the left. The house elves should have already finished unpacking your things. You each have your own bathrooms and I will come back at dinner time to escort you to the dining hall." She finished before silently turning on her heel and heading out of the suite.

Harry watched her go and felt bad. He wasn't sure why Tonks was so upset. She had never acted this way before, and the situation wasn't even really about her. He decided to dwell on it later. He wanted to take some time and rest. Maybe a nap would help to clear his head.

"I'll see you in a bit Tonks. I want to take a nap. You know, try and look at everything with a clear head in a few hours," Harry said before turning around and going through the door into his room. It was a fairly large room, at least twice the size of his room at the Dursleys. Everything was decorated in Black and Royal Blue reminding him of Ravenclaw colors.

There was a queen sized four posted bed in the middle of the room. The wardrobe was on the wall to the left next to a door that he assumed was the bathroom and a nightstand was next to his bed on the right hand side. His empty trunk lay at the foot of his bed to be used for whatever purposes he required.

Heading into the bathroom he was even more astounded. Instead of the normal swimming pool sized tub that he was expecting he found a small tub about the size of a muggle Jacuzzi and a muggle bath/shower combo. He filled up the tub and decided to soak for a bit before going for his nap. Closing his eyes as the warm water flowed around, allowed Harry some much needed relaxation.

Section break

While Harry was relaxing away in the tub, Tonks was actually doing the exact same thing. After perusing her room, which was identical to Harry's, she thought it was best to take a nice relaxing bath. She couldn't believe she had acted like a spoiled and jealous teenager. She was twenty-five years old. Granted, her jealousy may have to do with the fact that she hasn't had a real boyfriend of her own since muggle grade school, at least one that wasn't an asshole.

She thought that she and Harry had become really close. She'd had a crush on him for the last year or so, ever since she had really gotten to know him. He'd never let on that he noticed her attraction to him. Then again it was possible he didn't know. As long as she had known him he had never really talked to any girls, other than Cho, Hermione and Ginny. Cho was the only one he talked to in a romantic sense, but even then they had grown further apart in the last six months.

Ginny seemed to have grown past her crush on Harry, and Hermione was more of a sister than a dateable person.

Harry seemed to actually confide more in her than the rest of his friends combined. She wasn't sure exactly why but she hoped that it was maybe a sign that he liked her a bit more. 'God, I still sound like a jealous teenager.' She was the only one that he told the prophecy too besides Remus. However, since he knocked up that muggle waitress a few months back no one saw much of him anymore.

"Arrrggghhhh," She groaned. Why did Dumbledore do this? If he ruined her chances with Harry she'd show him how bad of an idea it was to piss off a metamorphmagus.

She climbed out of the tub and dried herself off before going and lying down in bed herself. If Harry was going to go to sleep then she had nothing else to do until dinner time. Resigning herself to try and explain her feelings to Harry soon, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: URGENT. BEFORE READING THIS ONE REREAD CH'S 1-3. I HAVE MADE CHANGES TO MAKE SURE THIS STORY GOES WHERE I NEED IT TO. SOME THINGS WON'T MAKE SENSE IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE CHANGES.**

**Chapter 4:**

Harry woke from his slumber due to the light knocking on his bedroom door. He sat up and got out of bed before heading to the door. He wasn't at all surprised to see Tonks standing there, but he was a little shocked at the forlorn look on her face. Tonks was generally an easy going lady. She hardly ever got mad and could never be sad for long.

"What's wrong, Tonks," Harry asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"I've just been doing some thinking, Harry. Come on, dinner's ready now. Fleur's waiting outside the door for us.

Harry walked back to his room and got some slacks to wear to dinner and got changed before meeting Tonks back in the common room.

While Harry was getting dressed, Tonks had let Fleur into the room and they appeared to be having a somewhat stilted conversation.

When they both notice Harry coming from his room they stood and waited for him to walk over.

As soon as he was near them Tonks started to talk.

"I-I just wanted to say that I am sorry for the way I reacted earlier. I had no reason to react that way and I said some mean things to you, our host, and must have given an awful impression of myself my first day here. So, I'm sorry," Tonks finished meekly.

Harry, though not shocked, was still impressed that she managed to overcome what ever her issue was so soon. He, himself, had never seen her mad, but he had heard stories that when she does get mad it's for good reason and it usually takes a lot to get her to calm down.

Seeing Harry nod in acceptance of her apology, she turned to Fleur. The quarter Veela was staring at her with a calculating look before she stuck out her hand in a formal peace offering.

Tonks smiled slightly and accepted the handshake and the tension in the room visibly deflated.

Harry smiled genuinely at both women and asked Fleur to lead the way.

"How old is this house?" Harry asked.

"My Aunt Cassy had it built shortly after the first war ended. She says that the community turned into something similar to the gypsies for awhile. They moved camp once a week and never stayed anywhere longer than was necessary to rest and recuperate.

"They waited until after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was vanquished before trying to make a settlement anywhere permanently.

"As you can see, Aunt Cassy was a somewhat spoiled child growing up and has always been used to living in luxury. I was never given a straight answer as to how they could afford to rebuild everything here but I do not really care either way. I am here to learn more about my heritage," Fleur continued with a smile.

"I did not grow up around here. I lived with Mama until I graduated from Beauxbatons. Mama never married Papa but she was not allowed back here once she decided to move away.

"It is one of the ways that they keep our community a secret. I miss Mama and Gabrielle dearly, but this is something that I have always wanted to do. Gabrielle will be coming to live here after she graduates from Beauxbatons as well. She is starting her second year right now."

The talk ended around the time that Fleur led both Harry and Tonks to the formal dining room. Cassandra and another, more elderly, Veela were sitting at the table.

"Harry, Ms. Tonks, this is my sister Helena. I am afraid that the Delacour's seemed to be cursed as far as men are concerned. We can never seem to find one that wants to stay attached to us," Cassandra said with a slightly sad smile.

She cleared the sadness instantly and continued on. "I am certainly glad that Ms. Tonks and Albus were able to bring you up to speed with your Occlumency skills. I am afraid to say that we never would have been able to train you here otherwise."

"Tonks worked with me for the first year and a half after…Sirius. Then Dumbledore thought it was safe enough for him to take over my lessons. I was quite proficient by the time he decided to teach me.

"Tonks was a much better teacher than Sniv- I mean Snape ever was. If we ever catch him……Sorry, I'm rambling.

"Tonks was much nicer, about her teaching methods and it made the learning much easier. Though I guess the lack of attacks from Voldemort may have helped with that a bit too."

Rubbing the back of his head from where Tonks had hit him he decided to get on with the conversation. "Sorry about that. It's very nice to meet you Helena." Helena didn't seem to understand a word she said but was soon listening to the fast moving French words coming from Cassandra. She looked at Harry and smiled at him.

"I am afraid that Helena never wanted to learn English. As a matter of fact she has flat out refused to speak it, but that is not here nor there."

Tonks looked at Helena and then Cassandra again. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Delacour." The older of the two sisters stared at her for a second before rapid firing questions to Cassandra.

"What did I do?" Tonks asked.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Ms. Tonks," Fleur assured her. "Grandmere has never been outside of this community before and she was rather shocked by, um, your talent."

Tonks looked slightly confused before she realized that she had fallen back on an old habit of randomly changing her hair color when she was in a new or uncomfortable situation.

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," She said as she tried to take a drink of her water. The glass was almost to her mouth when it fell to the ground with a smash. She jumped out of her chair and tried to clean her mess but ended ip falling down and nearly impaling herself on the glass covered floor.

Harry was by her side in an instant and helping her off the floor as well as cleaning the glass and water from the ground. It took less than ten seconds, using magic, to clean the area and they were all seated at the table again, with Tonks shooting menacing glares at Harry whenever she could get away with it.

The dinner was a fairly quite affair as Cassy had to translate most everything to French so her sister would be informed of what was going on.

"This will be the only dinner for a while were we all be here at the same time. Most of the time, I will dine with Helena and that will leave the three of you to yourselves for dinner. It should make it easier on you to not have to be in a formal environment and to be able to have some time with just your peers," Cassy explained.

Harry and Tonks nodded formally, silently grateful that they would be able to have somewhat normal meal times.

Fleur remained impassive. She usually ate her meals with her friends or by herself as Aunt Cassy was often too busy to make the normal meal times.

Dinner ended shortly thereafter and Fleur decided to give her guests a tour of the estate.

"I am glad that the dinner is finally over. Aunt Cassy is the more interesting of the two sisters. And while I love my Grandmere dearly, it is difficult to spend a lengthy amount of time with her."

Harry and Tonks both smiled, again, slightly relieved that it wasn't just them that felt that way.

"I will take you on a tour of the rest of the community tomorrow. I think for tonight, this house should keep you suitably confused"

The house did indeed keep them on their toes. It was three levels. A basement, where the house elves conducted most of their business, cooking, laundry, and their living quarters were things that could be found down there.

The second, or main, level was mostly offices and meeting rooms, along with a small library of books.

The third floor had nine bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. It was the "living area." The rooms they stayed in were considered the guest suite. They were the only ones with a common room and private baths, aside from the master suite. This was done to give guests some amount of room that they can consider their own.

A tired Fleur excused herself from further conversation to turn in for the night, leaving Tonks and Harry alone in their common room.

"Tonks?"

"Yes, Harry," Tonks asked lazily from her spot on the couch.

"I know you apologized for being angry and everything but," he paused as he saw her stiffen slightly.

Deciding it best to just finish the question since he had already brought up the subject. "Why did you get so angry in the first place?

"Not that I don't care about your opinion or anything, but if anyone should have been angry it would have been me. I mean, it's about my life after all."

Tonks seemed to deflate in her seat. She had really hoped to not have to get into this too soon and here he was bringing it up he first chance he got.

"I-I…Harry, what do you think of me?" She asked nervously.

Warning bells were already going off in his head but he continued on anyways.

"What do you mean, Tonks? You're the best friend I have right now. I would do anything for you."

"You don't like to make things easy do you?" She asked with a wry smile.

At his confused look she continued on, "You really are clueless aren't you? I…Harry…" Taking a deep breath she asked the most difficult questions she could remember asking. The question wasn't difficult because of its wording; it was difficult simply because she was laying her heart on the line for the first time in years.

"Harry…I like you…a lot."

Harry nodded, "I like you a lot too, Tonks," he said with a smile while grabbing her hand.

"I…I like you…as more than a friend," She finished looking down at their hands.


End file.
